A galaxy far, far away

As a die-hard Apple fangirl, it takes a lot to make me like any gadget that does not have an Apple logo stamped on its aluminum butt, and more often than not, it’s a Samsung device that makes me consider switching over to the dark, i.e. Android side.

The Corby made me squeal in delight over its cuteness, and the pink Punch made me want to get two more numbers just so I could use its two SIM cards in one phone feature. Now, Samsung’s latest Galaxy S II is once again lightyears ahead of the competition.

It’s sleek, it’s thin, it’s sexy and super-smart; if the Galaxy S II were a person, it’d probably look like one of those perfect Koreanovela men whom the ladies scream over.

It may look light and thin—one of the thinnest smartphones in the market—but the dual-core device is no featherweight under the hood.  Featuring a 1.2GHz processor (read: superfast), its 4.3 inch AMOLED screen is eye-catching and also ideal for the myopic and the mature, i.e., our parents who want to join the smartphone crowd.

When I first got my hands on the S II, I immediately asked a mobile service provider if they could hook me up with 4G service during the review period, but alas, the phone is ahead of the Philippine market in terms of trying out the 4G network.  However, the S II would be a perfect traveling companion in 4G-wide countries for the speed and efficiency it will surely provide.

The phone comes equipped with a microUSB slot for added memory, which also double-duties as an HDMI port to quickly showcase your photos and videos taken with its 8.1MP built-in camera.

You can throw any task at the Galaxy S II and you’ll find it more than capable of multitasking without any noticeable lags or delays, and we’re really impressed at how smoothly it handles this.

As always, we love how Samsung’s interface handles widgets for easy access for frequently used applications, and lest we forget that we are talking about a phone, call quality is crisp and clear, and navigating through contacts is fast and easy to manage—perfect for those who never erase address book contacts.

App attack

The phone comes with Android’s Gingerbread build, and while I’m not expert enough to gauge whether this is the best OS for Android, it certainly works great with the S II; I had no trouble getting apps despite my lack of Android know-how.

Browsing the Internet on the S II is a dream come true, especially for the impatient.  It boasts of being able to handle up to 21Mbps speeds on HSDPA, and though we’re not likely to experience this anytime soon given our Internet network’s current condition, the speed of S II is still awe-inspiring.

But the best part—my most favorite part of all—is the Flash support.  For the longest time, this has always been the point of contention between Apple and Adobe.  Apple has always said Flash is not the future, and that it will cause your device to slow down, but the Galaxy S II says bring it on, and boy, did they bring it.

Flash renders beautifully here and I spent hours upon hours watching videos on the S II.   This is a true cure-all for boredom, wherever you are—just make sure your data plan can handle the load.

Whether a newbie or jaded purveyor of smartphones, we guarantee that the Samsung Galaxy S II is all that, and more.

Samsung Galaxy S II is available at Samsung dealers and Globe business centers.